


occam's razor

by amsves



Series: Master and Man (and Other Stories) [5]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Episode: s01e13 Apprentice Part 2, catch me looking up their real names on google so i know who is who, do they have real names?, tagging characters is so hard like do i use their real names?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 01:04:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16107545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. Robin had been doing these jobs ever since he’d come to serve under Slade with little to no trouble, and this one should have been no different.‘Should have been’ were the key words, because this night had ended in disaster.[Bad Things Happen Bingo]





	occam's razor

**Author's Note:**

> Anon requested “tied to a chair” for Bingo. Ask and ye shall receive!

He’d really outdone himself this time, in terms of messing everything up.

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get in, steal the gadget of the week, and get out without being caught. Robin had been doing these jobs ever since he’d come to serve under Slade with little to no trouble, and this one should have been no different.

‘Should have been’ were the key words, because this night had ended in disaster.

The Titans weren’t supposed to be there, but they were. Robin had no idea how they’d managed to predict the location of the heist--even  _ Slade _ had seemed surprised, and that was an indicator that things were going horribly wrong--but they had known, and they had been lying in wait for him. 

They’d gotten the jump on him, and though he fought with everything he had, they had captured him and taken him back to the Tower. 

Being overtaken by his old teammates stung, but what hurt more was the fact that they’d managed to do it without killing, maiming, or even really hurting him beyond what basic first aid could fix. They’d gone easy on him, perhaps because of their heroic moral codes or perhaps because to them he was still  _ their _ Robin (and if that was the case they were even more foolish, because Slade had made Robin  _ his  _ a long time ago). They’d taken him down and brought him in with a few cuts and bruises but nothing that would be a hindrance to his escape.

And Robin  _ could _ escape. That wasn’t the issue. The problem was that he’d allowed himself to be caught in the first place. That was the troublesome part, because his orders were always to complete the task assigned to him without detection, and he’d not only failed to even get close to the gadget (some kind of memory chip with advanced encryption technology, it didn’t really matter) but he’d also been  _ captured _ . By the  _ Teen Titans _ .

Robin stretched his wrists as much as he could, trying to break out of his bonds. Apparently no one knew where to find rope in the Tower, because they’d tied him up and bound him to a chair with duct tape. Robin had forced himself not to smile when they’d first pulled it out; escaping duct tape was child’s play. They’d done a fair job of taping his wrists up, though, so simply breaking the tape apart wasn’t going to work. No matter; the next option was simply to chew through it. 

Robin wasn’t stupid; he knew the location of every security camera in Titans Tower, and he knew that the reason he was alone was that there were at least three of them trained on his location in the basement. That meant he had to be fast, since it would be difficult to be discrete about biting off his restraints. As quickly as he could he tore through the tape on his wrists and set to work freeing his ankles, but he wasn’t quick enough. Starfire entered the basement just as he had managed to free his feet but before he could break out of the tape binding him to the chair he was sitting in. 

She gave him a look of disappointment and pity, and Robin felt his heart clench. Sure, they were on opposite sides now, but he couldn’t forget about how strong their bond had been before he’d gotten into this mess. He’d always had a soft spot for her, and it  _ hurt _ when she looked at him with that much pain and sadness in her eyes. 

“Star--” he choked out, but she shook her head, cutting off any more words he might have tried to say.

“Slade will come for you soon, yes?” she asked quietly, and Robin nodded. “Then I will not waste any time. Why were you trying to escape? Do you want to go back to him?”

Robin was silent. How could he possibly explain that he  _ didn’t  _ want to go back there, but he had to? How could he convince her that in order to save her and the others this was the only way? Starfire knew that Slade had the upper hand, but she still believed that there was a way out of this situation and that they just had to find it. Robin knew better.

Starfire blinked, and Robin noticed her eyes were brimming with tears. “Robin, are you still you? Are you still our friend somewhere in there? Or are you just Slade’s apprentice now?” When Robin didn’t answer, she shot a starbolt at the wall, just barely grazing the top of Robin’s head and filling his nostrils with the scent of burning hair. “Answer me!” 

When he still didn’t, she turned away from him; evidently looking at her former friend and leader in all his traitorous glory was too much. “You do not speak, but your silence speaks volumes for you.” She walked towards the door. “Cyborg will be back shortly to re-do your bonds. If you really are our friend still, please wait for him. If you are truly the villain you appear to be, feel free to run.”

She closed the door behind herself and left Robin alone. 

Robin heard a crackle of static in his ear; the Titans hadn’t bothered to remove his communicator for whatever reason. “Robin, report.”

“I’m in the basement of Titans Tower,” he said under his breath, scarcely moving his lips to hide his words from the camera watching his face. “They taped me to a chair. I’ve removed the tape on my wrists and ankles, but haven’t gotten the rest off yet.”

“Good boy.” Slade went silent just long enough for Robin to think he’d gone offline before he continued. “How was your little talk with the Tamaranian?”

Robin shouldn’t have been surprised that Slade knew about that. Whether he’d been listening through the communicator silently the whole time, whether he’d hacked the security cameras in the Tower, or whether his powers of prediction were simply that strong (barring that he hadn’t foreseen the Titans’ involvement earlier in the night), of course Slade would know everything that happened. “...she hates me,” he admitted quietly, trying to keep his voice steady.

“And why shouldn’t she?” Slade countered. “After all, she still thinks you enjoy working for me. They all do. You’re the only one who sees the truth. Or perhaps,” he added, and Robin could  _ hear  _ the smirk in his Master’s voice, “Perhaps they’re actually right, and you do enjoy being my apprentice. Maybe you just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”

“No--” Robin started, but Slade cut him off.

“I’ll be there to retrieve you in exactly than five minutes. Be ready to run.” With a crackle, the line went dead, and Robin went back to working on his restraints.

When Cyborg stepped into the basement a few minutes later, he saw an empty chair and patches of chewed-through duct tape, and took a deep breath, trying not to cry.

**Author's Note:**

> “Occam's razor (or Ockham's razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose there exist two explanations for an occurrence. In this case the simpler one is usually better.” --Wikipedia
> 
> Find me and request bingo squares on [Tumblr](http://www.skeletoncloset.tumblr.com)


End file.
